Proposed land swap between county, city another step toward Gilbert's jail site plan

In the city-county land swap deal, Wayne County would get ownership of an 11.184 acre portion of a Detroit Department of Transportation property (left) where Rock Ventures LLC is proposing to build a new criminal justice complex to replace the half-built jail at the foot of downtown. The city would get ownership of the 1.4 million-square-foot American Motors Corp. site on Detroit's west side at 14250 Plymouth Road (right).

Wayne County and the city of Detroit have agreed to a land swap that moves the county into better position to forge to a deal with Dan Gilbert for the Wayne County Consolidated Jail site on Gratiot Avenue.

Under terms of the tentative agreement announced Thursday morning, the county would get ownership of a portion of a Detroit Department of Transportation property where Gilbert's Rock Ventures LLC is proposing to build a new criminal justice complex to replace the half-built jail at the foot of downtown. In return, the city gets ownership of the 1.4 million-square-foot American Motors Corp. site on Detroit's west side at 14250 Plymouth Road, upon which the county foreclosed in 2015. Wayne County Land Bank had planned to sell that property to a Commerce Township man, but the sale was canceled because he missed a payment deadline.

The Detroit City Council, Wayne County Commission and Wayne County Land Bank board must sign off on the deal.

Last month, the county commission approved extending a deadline to Dec. 1 to recommend a path forward on the half-built jail site, while keeping Walsh Construction's proposal to finish building the jail on the table. The county has said it is focusing its efforts on Rock Ventures' $1 billion plan to build a new consolidated jail complex on the DDOT property and build a Major League Soccer stadium and a trio of high-rises at the Gratiot site.

"This agreement gets us one step closer to a deal with Rock Ventures. Acquiring this land was one of the significant hurdles to Rock's proposed criminal justice complex," county Executive Warren Evans said in a news release.

The DDOT property involved in the swap does not include the bus system's terminal, but rather the land behind it, which means it will not affect DDOT operations at the facility, according to the release.

Duggan said it's "land we don't need" and that the city receives the AMC property as one it "wants to take on as a redevelopment project to improve the neighborhood."

The city would market it for redevelopment.

Gilbert-Gores plan

Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures, has offered to build the county a new criminal justice complex on the 13-acre DDOT property at East Warren Avenue and I-75 for $520.3 million, with the county being responsible for $380 million of the cost.

He and billionaire Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores are jointly seeking a Major League Soccer expansion team, which they want to have play in a $1 billion mixed-use development anchored by a stadium and three high-rise buildings for office, residential and hotel uses at the 15-acre consolidated jail site.

Among the issues for the county to resolve are whether the Internal Revenue Service will determine whether the county can use bond money left over from the Gratiot jail project to help pay for the Rock Ventures project a few miles north.

Under Rock's proposal, the consolidated criminal justice complex at Warren and I-75 would have a 2,280-bed jail, 25 courtrooms and five hearing rooms, sheriff's and prosecutor department offices, a 160-bed juvenile detention facility.

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In July, the county said a proposal by Walsh Construction would likely cost as much, if not more, to finish the jail site and renovate the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice than the $380 million the county would pay Rock. The county also said it would be at risk for cost overruns with Walsh's proposal, unlike the Rock proposal.

Walsh's proposal includes an option for a $269 million completion of a 1,608-bed jail or a $317.6 million completion of a 2,200-bed jail, neither of which include the $36 million estimated cost of renovating the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, the county said two months ago.

The county also said that it anticipates a $7.2 million annual savings by closing the Division III jail, which would offset the additional cost of the Rock Ventures proposal. The Division I and II jails would also be closed.

The Rock Ventures proposal calls for transfer of the Gratiot site and an originally proposed East Forest Avenue site to the company. Matt Cullen, principal of Rock Ventures, said in an interview in June that the plan would be to redevelop the East Forest site, but no decision has been made on what would go there.

In addition, Rock Ventures proposed that it collect revenue from about 1,500 county parking spaces near the DDOT site on Warren at the rate of $110 per month for 20 years, the proposal says.

It anticipates a March demolition and construction beginning at the Warren site, completion of final site plans by June 2018 and completion of the project by November 2020.

Jail site idle

Evans has said his main concerns are whether Rock Ventures can build the jail complex in a timely fashion, whether the complex meets the county's needs and whether the county can afford it.

Designing the stadium is Detroit-based Rossetti Associates Inc.

St. Louis-based architecture and engineering firm HOK, the same firm that created Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, is working on plans for a new county justice center. Southfield-based Barton Malow Co. is also working on the project.

The Gratiot jail site has been idle for almost four years. Work there was halted when cost overruns pushed the price tag from $220 million to an estimated $391 million. The complex was designed to consolidate Wayne County's criminal justice facilities in downtown Detroit.

Gilbert's real estate and development empire in and around downtown has grown to more than 95 properties — buildings and parking decks, for the most part — totaling more than 15 million square feet.

Getting an MLS franchise would be the second major professional sports team for both Gilbert and Gores. Gilbert also owns the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. In November, Gores announced that he would move the Pistons from The Palace of Auburn Hills to the new Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit. They played their first preseason game there Wednesday.